Oil-diluent separator



Aug. 9,1927. 1,638,319

s. w. BRIGGS OIL DILUENT SEPARATOR Filed Nov. 4, 1926 IN V EN TOR Y J4720mm.

Patented Aug. 9,

UNITED STATES SOUTHWIGK w. names, or GLENMONT, MARYLAND.

OIL-DILUENT snrazaaron.

Application filed November I The present invention relates toseparators, and more particularly to/a device for attachment-to aninternal combustion engine for removing the diluents from oil which haveaccumulated in the crank case and other por= tions of the lubricatingsystem.

- An objectof the present invention is'to provide a: device which may bereadily attached to an internal combustion engine to utilize, in part,some of the elements of the I engine to assist in the operation orfunctioning of the present invention, and which may be used forpreheating a predetermined volume' of air and by passing a relativevolume 1 of oil from the lubricating circuit to the device for removingthe diluents from the oil. Various attempts have been heretofore made inthe prior art to render free the lubricating oil in the crank case of aninternal combustion engine of the lighter constituents which accumulatein the oil and dilute the same. Some of these prior systems attempt toprevent fuel condensate from entering the oil in the crank case, and yetother systems treat the oil directly to vaporize or otherwise drive olfthe diluents which have already accumulated in the body'of oil.

The present invention has reference to that type of separators whichtreats the oil subsequent to the accumulation of the diluents therein,because it has been found by actual usage and experimentation that eventhough the preventative system is practically perfect in operation, itdepends upon the heating of the walls of the engine to at least atemperature of approximately 150 degrees before the. preventative systemcan successfully operate without chilling and further condensing thetrapped diluents' 40 Before this temperature has been attained thegreatest amount of condensate accumulates inthe crank case, such as whenthe choke of the engine is closed during the starting of the-engine, andthen again, the

oil by evaporation incident to the heat generated in" the operation ofthe engine gives off a certain percentage of the higher volatileconstituents which while remaining in the oil body form merely amechanical mixture therewith and consequently dilute the same.

Among the various other expedients resorted to for the separation of thediluents from the oil has been a system of forcing jets of air upwardlythrougli the crank caseor body of oil, but-such means not only disturbsand-.disintegrates the body of oil, so

4, 1926. Serial No. 146,222.

that proper lubrication of the cranks, and

operation of the oil pump is. greatly impaired, but there cannot be thatnecessary relative proportioning of the air and the oil so essentialtothe proper and uniform treatment of the oil and the carrying off byabsorption the lighter constituents which may 3 be washed or'removedfrom the oil.

The invention, therefore, aims to provide a device which wil-l'collecttogether at one source the proper relative volumes of air and oil andwill carry the same together and intermix them under such conditions aswill remove from the .oil all the lighter constituents and then free theoil from the air and the vapors taken up thereby, returning the oil tothe crank case and removing the valpors for subsequent use andexhaustion.

The invention also embodies certain structural features in the apparatuswhich peculiarly adapt it for attachment to an inter- -nal combustionengine without modification of the latter, and to produce a device which1s commercially practical and economical to manufacture and install.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the inventlon will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through the upper part or cap ofthe-separator body substantially) on the line H of Figure 3. a v IFigure 5 is a similar section taken through an improved portion of theseparator body, substantially on the line 5-5 of Figlire 3.

Referring to the drawing, 10 desi ates generally, an internal combustionenglne of any approved type and provided with an exhaust manifoldllhaving a lower air channel 12 extending lengthwise therein and connectedat one end to an air filter 13 of any approved type. The engine is alsoprovided with a carburetor 14 of any suitable type, showndiagrammatically in the present in the oil.

drawings and in its relative position at the side of the engine 10.

The separator body comprises a cylinder 15 which may be cast, orotherwise suitably formed and provided on its inner wall with a spiralledge or rib 16 which extends substantially throughout the height of thecylinder 15. and which is transversely inclined in an upward directionwith respect to the inner wall of the cylinder 15 to form a spiralgroove or channel 17 in which the oil accumulating upon the inner wallof the cylinder 15 may travel in its downward course.

The body 15 is provided upon its upper end with a cap 18, which may alsobe a casting and secured to the cylinder 15 by bolts or the like. Thecap 18 has at one side a radial inlet 19 preferably integral with thecap 18 and which merges into the side of the same at substantially atangent for delivering air under pressure in a circular directionagainst the inner side of the cap, so that the air is given a spiral orwhirling motion during its travel downwardly through the cap and throughthe body 15.

The lower end of the cylinder or body 15 is provided with a conicallower cap 20 forming an inclined bottom through the lower centralportion of which is connected a return pipe 21 which is carrieddownwardly into the crank case 22 of the engine and is submerged beneaththe body or oil contained therein. The oil thus forms a liquid sealabout the lower end of the pipe 21 to'prevent intake of air or the likeupwardly through the pipe 21. Oil is fed to the inlet 19 through a pipe23 which leads from a branch coupling 24 extending from the I usual 011pump pipe, as shown in Figure 2, the other branch of the Y-coupling 24connected to a pipe 25 which leads to the usual oil. gauge or the like,not shown. The pipe 23- is carried from the coupling 24 to the outerside of the inlet 19 and terminates centrally withm the inlet so thatthe incoming heated air is iorced about the inner end of the pipe 23 andcreates a suction to assist in the feeding of the oil and the thoroughbreaking up and.

intermingling of the oil within the stream of heated air which entersthe'inlet 19. It .will be noted that the pipe 23 is relatively small ascompared with the cross sectional area of the inlet 19 so that arelatively small volume of oil is projected into the relatively largevolume of air to efi'ect the thorough removal of the volatile matterwhich is carried The inlet 19 may be connected directly to the airchannel 12, or may, as

shown in the present instance, be provided with an elbowcoupling 26which is attached at one end to the inlet 19 and at its other end to themanifold 11 opposite the outlet openingfirom the air channel 12. The ca18 is provided centrally with an outlet pipe 27 which extends downwardlyinto the cylinder the intake 19 of the separator.

leads to the carbureter 14 for supplying the same with air which is notonly heated, but which is also laden with the volatile matter extractedfrom the oil.

In operation, the carbureter draws air through the pipe 29 in the usualmanner inci dent to the usual suction in the intake manifold of theengine 10. This suction causes a flow of air into-the air cleaner 13 tocatch dust and other accumulations in the air, heats the air in itspassage through the channel 12 and delivers the air in a relativelylarge volume and in a heated condition to At the same time the pump ofthe engine 10 forces the oil upwardly through the coupling 24 and partof the oil is deflected into the pipe 23 and delivered in a smallquantity into the intake 19. The relatively large volume of oil breaksthe oil into a fine spray or mist and extracts therefrom all the lightervola-.r

tile matter which causes the dilution of the oil and the oil with theair is carried downwardly in a spirally traveling stream into the bottomot the separator. A relatively heavy body of oil. accumulates upon theconical bottom.20 and drains ofi through the pipe 21 back into thecrankcase, while the air. is drawn ,upwardly and centrally through thepipe 27 and carries with it the lighter particles into the carbureter1 1. The spiral fin 16 assists in maintaining the spiral motion of theair and oil as it rroves downwardly in the separator 15, and the heavierparticles of oil which do not admix with the air,'which cannot becarried by the air accumulate in the trough 17 and consequently flowdownwardly by gravity and are finally discharged upon the bottom 20.

It will be noted from above that the air is heated sufliciently only todrive off the of the oil and liberates the lighter constituents so thatthey may be carried ofi readily with the air. This action iscontra-distim guished: from the apparatus which have'been heretoforeused and wherein the air is raised to a very high temperature so as totransmit the heat to the oil and break down the oil to form dilution andby heat evaporate and carry ofi' the dilution. According to thisinvention the oil is not broken down but is maintained in its naturalstate while at the same time the dilution is almost comple y removed.

Itis obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes, and modifications being restricted only by the scope ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is 1. A diluent separator for removing lightersubstances'from oil comprising a cy-' lindrical bod portion having aninlet near its upper en and ata tangent to one side thereof fordelivering a volumeof 'air in a spiral stream to the upper end of thebody portion, an outlet! pipe arranged centrally in the body portion andopening into the same near the lower end of the body portion forcarrying otfthe air, means for heating the air prior to delivering thesame to the body portion, means for delivering a rela tively smallstream of oil to said inlet for admixture with the air as it enters thebody portion, and means for carrying oil the oil accumulating in thelower end-of said body portion.

2; In combination with an exhaust manifold having an air heating channeltherein, a dust collector mounted on the inlet end of said channel, aseparator body having a relatively large air inlet connected to theoutlet end of said air heating channel, a spiral fin arranged againstthe inner wall of the separator body, an outlet pipe arranged centrallyin the separator body and opening into the lower end thereof to removethe air therein, means forfeeding a relatively small 'volume of oil intothe upper end of said separator body for admixture with the air, saidfin being inclined upwardly from the wall of said separator body toprovide therewith a. channel for the accumulation of the heavierparticles of the oil to feed the same into the bottom of the separatorbody, and a drain pipe connected to the lower end of said body forcarrying ofii' the heavier particles of the oil.

3. In combination with an internal combustion engine having an airheating channel and a pressure feed oil pipe, a separator body connectedto the outlet end of said air heating channel to receive heated airthere from, a branch pipe leading from said oil pipe to the upper end ofsaid separator body to supply oil thereto for admixture with the heatedair, said separator body being arranged vertically to provide a path oftravel downwardly 'through the body for the admixed'air and oil forremoving the lighter particles from the oil, means opening into thelower end of the separaton body for removing the air with the lighterparticles of oil, and draining means connected to the lower end of theseparator body for returning the residue oil to the engine.

4:. A diluent separator comprising a cylindrical body provided u onitsinner wall with a spiral fin, said 'n being inclined transversely at anupward angle to the wall of the cylinder .to provide therewith a spiralchannel for the accumulation of heavy oil in the cylinder, a cap mountedon the upper end of the cylinder and having at one side at a tangentthereto a relatively large air in. take, an oil pipe of relatively smalldiameter projecting into the intake and opening at the central portionthereof for delivering oil into the air when passing through the intake,a hopper bottom mounted on the cylinder, a drain pipe connected to saidbottom for carrying off the residue oil accumulating on the bottom, acentrally disposed pipe carried through said cap and projectingdownwardly into the cylinder and opening therein near the lower end ofthe cylinder for carrying off the air and the lighter particles carriedthereby and removing from the oil.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature'.

SOUTHWICK W. BRIGGS.

